Revisit Azur Lane

"..."

Zhou He saw it all, but he really couldn't stand a woman barging into the bathhouse halfway through his bath. He didn't dare say anything like "next time, please." Helplessly, he scratched his cheek with his fingernail and gently stroked Hermione's head: "I know you meant well, Hermione, but we don't have this custom where I'm from. I'm really sorry for suddenly getting angry at you."

"No~"

When Hermione was suddenly patted on the head, she seemed to understand why Yuudachi was so happy when Zhou He patted her head. The sense of security that welled up from the bottom of her heart was hard to describe. Her previous regret was swept away. She stood up and smiled: "This time it was my dereliction of duty. I failed to confirm the commander's will before the operation. Commander, please rest assured, Hermione will not make such a low-level mistake again in the future."

"Well, that's good. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Zhou He withdrew his hand, only able to marvel at Hermione's strong ability to regulate her emotions. He turned around and took two steps, then turned back and called to Hermione as she entered the bathhouse: "Hood said he's going to hold a tea party, let's prepare together in a bit."

"Ok!"

Hermione readily agreed and went into the bathhouse.

"...The maid is amazing, no, it should be Hermione who's amazing?"

Feeling moved, Zhou He turned around and went to the back door again, only to find that Hu De had disappeared. He could only adjust the position of the recliner to lie down sideways facing the sun, squinting as he focused his attention on the system interface:

Zuikaku is still diligently scouting. The fog on the new map has been cleared up only around the islands. However, judging from the gathering and movement of the sirens, it seems that Zuikaku's reconnaissance aircraft has been discovered and is being pursued.

Regarding safety, Zhou He was not worried, because Zuikaku's main body was near the command post and had not even left the area represented by the 'port area' symbol. The only concern was whether the Siren aircraft carrier would conduct reconnaissance in this direction due to the flight path of the reconnaissance aircraft, but Zuikaku's decoy technology was superb and it should not make such a mistake.

The remaining teams are Yuudachi and Tosa. It seems that these two have made contact with Zuikaku. Zuikaku is scouting in the west, while the two of them are running east. They have now run beyond the 30-nautical-mile zone represented by the port area. Yuudachi is running much faster and is still more than 40 nautical miles from the outer edge of the map. In about an hour, they will be able to light up the new eastern map.

"A round trip takes four hours; such an exploration is far too time-consuming and laborious."

Zhou He didn't even need to calculate it. The ship girls couldn't deploy their ship equipment and stay in one place overnight. After each sortie, they had to run back to rest. Most of their combat time was spent traveling.

He thought of the islands to the west, to occupy them as a base, where his own people could spend the night and then continue to expand outwards—but that was a matter for later. The best way would be to get a large ship to go out and explore, and rest wherever they went.

"We're so poor, and we're short-staffed. In a game, this would probably mean we're stuck, right?"

It wasn't that Zhou He wanted to complain about his own system, but the ways to acquire resources were simply too few. After all, it was a game-like system. Could it be that he hadn't developed it enough, resulting in some functions not being enabled?

The sun was so comforting that he started daydreaming. After a brief mental storm, he connected to Zuikaku's video call. The girl standing on the sea looked serious, her high ponytail swaying in the wind, exuding an unusual charm. But when she noticed the video call, she instantly froze, a mysterious smile playing on her lips: "Commander, guess what I found?"

"...Did you discover that the Sirens' carrier did not join the pursuit of your reconnaissance aircraft?"

Zhou He actually wanted to look at the handsome Ruihe a little longer, but when asked, he asked back irritably. Then he noticed that Ruihe was stunned for a moment, and he was stunned too: "Did I say that?"

"Yes."

Zuikaku scratched his head and stopped keeping him in suspense: "The Siren fleet that Kursk discovered has been lingering near the island. When my reconnaissance planes approach, they will intercept them, but after I fly a certain distance away, their reconnaissance planes will automatically return to base. I tried it a few times and got curious, so I abandoned three reconnaissance planes and rushed in. The island ruins on that island are quite large. In addition, that Siren fleet is not guarding the island, but rather it seems to be confined to that area."

"what?"

Zhou He sat up slightly, switched to the map, and found that the island had indeed been explored more extensively, but he still couldn't see the full panorama or the complete formation of the aircraft carrier fleet.

But the aircraft carrier fleet is confined to a certain area? Is that even possible? Doesn't that mean he's getting a free mission reward?

He thought for a moment and said to Zuikaku, "If you are sure that the fleet is restricted, then just launch an air raid. I want to see what secrets are hidden there."

"Uh, not so good."

Zhou He's sudden assertiveness made Ruihe feel guilty. It was just a hypothetical scenario based on a few experiments. If she guessed wrong and the fleet charged out, wouldn't her so-called elite be ruined?

Even Zuikaku, who had witnessed it firsthand, couldn't be certain, so Zhou He naturally wouldn't make a decision on his own. He changed his mind and said, "How about this, Zuikaku, you should abandon the exploration in the west for now, and work with Yuudachi and the others to check out the situation in the east as well. We can discuss how to deal with the Sirens' fleet after we return."

"it is good!"

The opposing Zuikaku seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Lights flickered on its armor plating as it launched several more reconnaissance planes. The planes soared into the sky and disappeared into the horizon.

The two chatted for a while longer. Zhou He then cut off the video call, closed his eyes, and lay down to think about what Ruihe had just said. If it was true, then it meant that there was something strange in the remaining unlit fog.

The more he thought about it, the more it itched to do it. He wished he could immediately ask Ruihe to light up the map, but he couldn't be sure if it was real and couldn't act rashly.

Before long, he actually dozed off and fell asleep.

Hermione, who was serving tea, noticed that Zhou He was asleep and hurriedly turned around to get a blanket to cover him.

……

In his dream, Zhou He dreamt that a large treasure chest appeared in the western sea. After it was flattened, it gave him a lot of Mind Cubes and ship equipment materials. Then he woke up feeling very happy, staring blankly at the beautiful blue sky.

"Commander? Were you having a nightmare?"

Hermione, who was sitting on a chair next to him reading a cookbook, heard the noise, got up and found Zhou He looking very distressed. She put the book in her pocket, went around to the back of the recliner and massaged the acupoints on his head to help relieve his headache.

"It wasn't exactly a nightmare."

Zhou He narrowed his eyes again, and after a while, he got up, folded the blanket he was wearing, and handed it to Hermione: "Thank you."

"It's your job."

Hermione smiled faintly, turned around, and walked into the command center. Zhou He, who was behind her, stretched and yawned. His dream and the things he was thinking about overlapped to a great extent, and many memories remained. He could only say that anything was possible in a dream, but in reality, he had to work hard on his own.

After spacing out for two minutes, Zhou He strolled around the cement road, focusing his attention on the attack map. He discovered that the new territory in the east had also been activated, and even half of the area had been lit up. Yuudachi was standing in the new sea area, and there was a submarine icon not far from her.

This discovery made Zhou He's eyes widen instantly. Just as he was about to notify Yuudachi, he saw that the submarine icon had disappeared. After letting out a "huh," he remembered that Yuudachi had anti-submarine equipment, and anti-submarine warfare was indeed something that destroyers should do. He immediately calmed down.

"Speaking of which, if a ship girl is lost while attacking a submarine, does she appear directly on the surface of the sea, or is she still in the water?"

The restless Zhou He immediately set himself up for another challenge, and the final result was that he would appear on the sea surface, because he couldn't imagine what it would feel like to suddenly appear hundreds of meters deep in the ocean. Just thinking about it made him feel suffocated.

Even if the ship girl's special body prevents her from facing any life-threatening danger, her sensory experience and mood would definitely be extremely poor. The monster drops should be a feature of the system, so it's unlikely that it would create such a problem for her.

"That's about enough. Let Yuudachi and the others come back."

After finishing his pointless contemplation, Zhou He issued return orders to Tosa, Yuudachi, and Zuikaku. He then turned back to the command post, went into the kitchen to take stock of the ingredients, and after finishing, he bought a set of dessert ingredients (sugar, cream, etc.) from the home store (22 remaining) and set it aside.

In terms of food ingredients, the Home Shop sells them quite cheaply, mainly because of the large quantities. One serving of a finished dish costs 1 Home Coin, but you can buy at least ten servings of ingredients with 1 Home Coin. All he can say is that the system is very good at charging technically.

The three who had gone out to attack returned early. Zhou He, who had prepared the ingredients, came out and ran into Hermione. He looked around and said, "Hermione, have you seen Hood? I was going to ask her what kind of desserts she should prepare for the royal tea."

"Ms. Hood said she went to investigate the island and left a list before leaving."

Hermione exclaimed "Ah!" and clapped her hands lightly before taking out a slip of paper with delicate handwriting from her pocket and handing it to Zhou He: "I know a little about how to make these desserts. If the Commander wants to learn, I will assist him."

"Then I'll have to trouble Hermione."

Looking at the handwriting on the note, Zhou He sighed in self-reproach, "Your Donghuang script is really well written."

"The Commander's writing is also very good."

Hermione responded with a slight smile, her sincere expression making Zhou He grin awkwardly. His handwriting was barely legible, far from being good.

After exchanging a few polite words, Zhou He led Hermione out of the command post and strolled on the lawn, where the humidity had almost dissipated. He casually remarked, "But the royal tea party should be an afternoon tea, right? By the time Yuudachi and the others return and have lunch, it will be afternoon. Wouldn't it be a bit of a stretch to hold a tea party then?"

"Well, to borrow the ladies' words, it's like 'sweets are stored in another stomach.' Commander, you should also be careful with your wording. It's fine for other factions, but the ladies of the royal family always have their own special characteristics that they care about and don't want to make public."

Hermione had doubts about the veracity of this claim, but she felt perfectly fine accompanying Zhou He for afternoon tea.

She gently closed her eyes, sensing the contradiction in her thoughts.

"Yeah, I remember."

Zhou He often hears this phrase in anime, but the truth is that he feels sick of desserts after a full meal. However, the wording should be carefully considered. For example, the Royal Formidable is nicknamed "Fat Dinosaur" by players because it is too heavy. I wonder if the Formidable will be bothered by its weight after it is built.

weight…

What is the weight of the ship girls?

Zhou He glanced at Hermione's almost perfect figure. He usually only gave Yuudachi the physical contact of patting her head, and he had never actually tried to pick her up. Judging from the level of strength shown by Tosa and Kursk, her weight was definitely beyond what he had 'estimated'.

"..."

Hermione opened her eyes as if sensing something and met Zhou He's gaze, who was looking to the side: "Commander seems to be thinking about something impolite?"

"I just suddenly thought of some minor issues."

Zhou He smiled and looked away. He would try it when Yuudachi returned. Asking Hermione for help would definitely be fine, but she was not as easy to fool as Yuudachi. It was better to avoid trouble. He put one hand on his hip and looked at the bay in the distance: "Everyone in the port area is working so hard. I have to work hard too. Let's pave another twenty meters of road tomorrow."

"Hmm, instead of worrying about the road ahead, Commander, should we cover up the lawn in front of the command post first?"

Hermione hesitated for a moment before offering a suggestion: "It often rains heavily for several days at sea. If we don't prepare in advance, it will be difficult for us to go out."

Zhou He frowned slightly. This was indeed a problem. It only rained for a short while yesterday before stopping. If it rained for several days in a row, the grassland would turn into mud. At that time, if they wanted to launch an attack, they would have to wade through the mud first. It would be like drawing a picture of hell.

However, judging from the thickness of the cover this morning, the thickness of the cement ground that was redeemed was about 18 to 20 cm. It would be too high to cover the grass directly... Is that really the case?

He followed Hermione and looked back. The foundation of the command post was almost half a meter higher than the lawn, requiring three steps to descend. If the lawn were covered with a road, the three steps would become a little more than one, which seemed acceptable.

"Hmm... using differences in elevation to highlight different layers is also an architectural technique?"

Zhou He stroked his chin, sensing some limitations of the Homestead System's products.

In the future, if there's an opportunity, I'll just buy the machines and raw materials directly and do it myself.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Exploration

"Yo, Commander."

Following orders, Zuikaku, which was closest to the port, turned back into the bay. Seeing Zhou He and Hermione strolling on the beach, she walked over quite naturally, waving and laughing as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time, saying, "I'm back."

"Welcome back, but Zuikaku, it seems you haven't gone very far to begin with."

Zhou He didn't understand why Ruihe was so happy. He raised his hand to give a high five and then complained. Seeing that Ruihe didn't seem to care, he shrugged and changed the subject: "My 'target detection radar' can only see the areas you've scouted. Your reconnaissance plane hasn't flown over the islands and the mysterious sea, so I can't see the exact situation. Tell me in detail what your reconnaissance plane saw."

His system, as you can say, is convenient, but too rigid. You can only get feedback from the system by doing things in a down-to-earth manner.

"The commander isn't as useful as I thought, cough, here's the thing..."

Ruihe made a strange comment, and then realized that Zhou He was staring at her. Feeling a little embarrassed, she looked away and explained the situation in more detail.

In war, obtaining intelligence often requires taking risks, and Zuikaku's reconnaissance mission was no exception. After learning of the presence of an aircraft carrier fleet near the island, she first scouted that area. However, she was discovered by the Sirens as soon as she approached. The reconnaissance plane was chased by Sirens' fighter jets for a long time before finally escaping. After circling the area for half an hour, she approached again, only to be discovered and chased for a long time. Despite several attempts, the Sirens' aircraft carriers were unable to pursue her to the end.

Later, she abandoned the reconnaissance planes and approached from a distance to see the aircraft carrier fleet anchored on the sea outside the island. She was unmoved by the provocations of her reconnaissance planes, and would attack if they approached, but ignored them if they did not. This is the main reason why Zuikaku guessed that the Siren aircraft carriers were restricted and guarded the airspace.

"What you're saying does make sense."

Zhou He stroked his chin. The Sirens they had encountered before were all the type to fight to the bitter end. This aircraft carrier fleet that was stationary on the sea and ignored the approaching enemy must have something wrong with it.

However, it cannot be determined whether the Sirens fleet will have different operating methods when using an aircraft carrier or battleship as its flagship. In any case, this is something to be aware of, and also something to be thankful for. Otherwise, given the commotion he had in the previous battles, if this Sirens fleet came to his aid, he would really have had to move and flee.

"I understand. I'll make arrangements for the Sirens tomorrow. When you came back, did you see Hood? He said he went to scout the island's terrain."

Suppressing the matter, Zhou He looked towards the bay. He thought the terrain of this port area was great, but only Hu De really went to investigate it carefully. It can only be said that the older generation of ships were indeed detailed and cautious enough.

"Hmm, I see it. It's at the foot of the mountain over there, on the shore. There are many fruit trees growing on the beach there. I wonder if they're edible."

Zuikaku thought for a moment and pointed to the high mountain on the right side of the bay.

"Really? I'll go take a look when I have time."